March 26, 2010
Property/casualty insurers are expected to continue to handle costs for defective Chinese drywall claims in the normal course of business, according to a rating analyst with Moody’s Investors Service. Losses from Chinese drywall will probably be covered within insurers earnings, …
March 26, 2010
Famed U.S. investor Warren Buffett, already Munich Re’s biggest shareholder, has built up his stake in the world’s No. 1 reinsurer to nearly 8 percent, increasing his bet on the sector’s long-term prospects. Buffett, who owns the world’s third-biggest reinsurer …
March 22, 2010
Financial stress is the No. 1 reason residential dwellings are intentionally torched, but proving arson is not that easy. Only around 6 percent of arson offenses in 2007 resulted in convictions, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Still, there …
March 22, 2010
Insurance Companies Generate New Programs to Bring in Additional Premium The last few years of the soft market have forced many carriers and agencies to get creative when it comes to bringing in additional premium. This has included launching new …
March 19, 2010
Pinnacol Assurance, Colorado’s quasi-governmental workers’ compensation insurer, has submitted a potential separation agreement to Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter that would establish Pinnacol as a domestic mutual insurance company owned by its policyholders in exchange for $330 million that could help …
March 19, 2010
A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a-” of American Physicians Group and its primary member, American Physicians Assurance Corporation, the lead subsidiary of American Physicians Capital Inc. …
March 18, 2010
Operating profits improved substantially during 2009 across the U.S. property/ casualty insurance industry, with most market participants reporting double-digit operating returns on capital, according to Fitch Ratings in a new report. A Fitch review of 2009 GAAP results reported by …
March 17, 2010
The Hartford said it would conduct a public offering of equity and debt securities as part of a plan to repay the $3.4 billion it took from the federal government as part of the Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program, also known …
March 17, 2010
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Jordan-based Middle East Insurance Company (MEICO) to ‘BBB-‘ from ‘BBB’. The outlook is stable. The rating action follows the “downgrade on March 12, …
March 17, 2010
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘BBB’ issue rating to Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.’s (HIG) proposed $1.1 billion senior debt offering. S&P assigned a ‘BB’ rating to HIG’s proposed $500 million mandatorily convertible preferred shares offering that …